PPA testifies before Massachusetts Legislature

In America, members of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) political advocacy group testified last week before the Massachusetts Legislature in support of reclassifying poker as a game of skill in the eastern state.

The legislative body’s Joint Committee On Economic Development And Emerging Technologies is currently considering H4069, which would categorise poker as a game of skill, and the PPA was represented at a special hearing in Boston by the Director of its Litigation Support Network, Patrick Fleming.

Introduced by Representative Brian Wallace, the proposed legislation is the result of a robust effort by PPA members in Massachusetts to have poker reclassified. Although the group is uncertain of the bill passing as stand-alone legislation, it stated that the measure could also be included in a larger casinos bill that the legislature is planning to consider this summer.

“There is a vast and growing body of academic research proving that poker is a game in which who wins and who loses is predominantly determined by skill, not chance,' said Randy Castonguay, Massachusetts State Director for the PPA.

“I am extremely proud that Massachusetts is on its way to codifying this fact into law and preserving our citizens' rights to play the game they love.”

The PPA stated that, in most jurisdictions in the United States including Massachusetts, the definition of gambling depends on whether or not a game's results are predominantly due to skill or chance. Given the law's reliance on the skill-versus-chance classification, is announced that ‘legislation like H4069 is critical to ensuring that every American has the freedom to play poker either with friends around the kitchen table or online at the computer table’.

The grassroots advocacy group has more than one million members nationwide with over 25,000 in Massachusetts and was also represented at the hearing by Andrew Woods from Harvard University’s Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society (GPSTS). The PPA also submitted a ‘white paper’ describing the role that skill plays in determining the outcome of a game of poker while also offering an overview of the scientific studies that address this question.

“At the core of our efforts to protect poker players' rights to enjoy this great American pastime wherever and whenever they chose is to explicitly categorise poker as a game of skill on the law books,' said John Pappas, Executive Director for the PPA. “The PPA applauds Representative Wallace and the Committee for holding a hearing on this bill and looks forward to working with them to see H4069 enacted into law.”